Process of making flour non-hygroscopic.



no mount.

0. AVBDYK.

PROCESS 0F MAKING FLOUR NON-HYGROSGOPIG. V

Arrmcumn FILED me. a, 1000.

PATENTED APR. 26, .1904.

'15, 1900, No. 148,232; in France on March 1,

' following is a full, clear, and exact descrip-.

' sary qualities for making good bread.

Patented April 26, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT @rrrcn.

OCTAVE AVEDYK, or enussnns, BELGIUM. I

PROCESS OF MAKING FLOUR NON- HYGROSCOPIC.

SPECIFICATION forming part bf Letters Patent No. 758,346, dated Apri]2c, 1904.

Application filed August 8, 1900 Serial No. 25,732. (No specimens.)

T0 (tZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OGTAVE Avnnrx, a subject of the King of Belgium,residing at 65 Rue Royals, Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, haveinvented a new and useful Process of Making Flour Non-Hygroscopic, (forwhich applications for patents have been filed in Belgium on February28, 1900, granted March 1900, granted June 14, 1900, No. 297,736; in

Germany on April lc, 1900;in Austria on April 18, 1900; in England onApril 19, 1900;

in Hungary on April 20, 1900; in Italy on April 21, 1900; in Russia onApril 18, 1900, and in Spain on April 23, 1900,)of which the variousgrinding systems now in use, for the purpose of changing the propertiesof said flours or meals so that they may no longer be affected byatmospheric influences, notably considerable variations in humidity,without, nevertheless, injuring their gluten or any of the originaldiastasic properties indispensable for their perfect panification, whichthey lose when they are exposed to atmospheres the humidity of whichexceeds the normal of the temperatezones and much more rapidly when thetemperature is at the same time higher as, for instance, in the tropics.

The defects which constitute a real misfortune for commerce in theproducts of the milling industry are due to the great propensity offlour to absorb the humidity of its surroundings, which inevitablycauses it to deteriorate when the hygroscopic condition of suchsurroundings allows of its absorbing more than from twenty per cent. totwentytwo per cent. of water and when it cannot be used or worked upimmediatelythat is, when it is stored under these conditions, as it thenferments and turns moldy. 0n the other hand, the maximum proportion oftwenty per cent. to twenty-two per cent. of water, which is not unusual,not to say normal, and which flour can contain withoutundergoing'immediate deterioration, constitutes a considerable loss forthe purchaser, who pays the same price for this one-fifth part of wateras for the flour, a loss to which must be added the expense caused bythe necessary precautions for its preservation during transport andstorage until the flour is finally utilized. It is accordingly ontheseconditions that flours having their natural diastasic and fermentablequalities can be handled in temperate climates;

but even this is not possible in equatorial countries, where they areabsolutely not preservable under ordinary conditions; Various means havetherefore been devised for rendering flour capable of being exportedwithout, however, succeeding in preserving its neces- The methodgenerally employed consists in inclosing the flour inhermetically-sealed metal cases; but during its passage across theequator the flour sweats, owing to exposure to a high temperature in theair-tight boxes, and is converted into dextrine, altering it to such adegree that when it reaches its destination its diastasic properties areimpaired, the gluten, altered, and consequently leavening action. to agreat degree prevented, so that whenmade into bread it only gives doughyand tasteless products. In order to obviate these defects, it has beensought to remove the water contained in the flour prior to its beingpacked and to dry the flour in ovens at the requisite temperature andfinally pack it in boxes; but it has been ascertained that nosatisfactory result is attainable by this process-that .is to say, theendeavor to deprive flour by simple dessica tion of the humidityabsorbed has proved fruitless, as flour thus treated goes had again inthe closed vessels. The condition of the flour, moreover, is not changedby treating it in an open drying apparatus unless the temperature beraised to roasting-point, as in the process known as stoving, whichcauses the opening up of the smallest particles, allowing the water theyinclose to escape; but the flour thus obtained is transformed ordisorganized and rendered unfit for use. Having ascertained these facts,I have sought for means permitting ofthe physical state of the flourbeing changed in such a manner as to deprive it of its tendency tobecome moist without injuring any of its natural qualities, a problemwhich has been paradoxically solved by a treatment with water previousto drying for the purpose indicated and which forms the object of thepresent invention.

It has been ascertained that an opening up of the constituent particlesof the flour is attained by treating it with an excess of Watersufficient to convert it into a paste of homogeneous density, and byafterward suitably dessicating this paste in a drying apparatus underthe action of a current of air at a suitable temperature the particlesof flour are entirely deprived of their moisture, which the current ofair carries away while oxygenating the paste without changing any oftheproperties of the floor, which reappears with all its originalwhiteness; but above all with this valuable quality in addition that inthis new state it no longer absorbs to an injurious extent the moistureof the surrounding atmospherethat is to say, the absorption is limitedto an imperceptible degree incapable of deteriorating the flour, so thatthis dry flour is unchanged by atmospheric influences and is on thisaccount adapted for transport and export without requiring more specialprecautions and packing than theordinary sacks. Although any appliancescapable of carrying out the necessary operations for obtaining thisresult may be used,. the process which has been actually followed isdescribed below for greater clearness.

As soon as the conversion of the flour into paste is in progress it isimportant that it should be passed into the drying apparatus withoutbeing kept in the kneadingrtrough' and that the drying should take placerapidly, so as not to leave time for the paste to be affected by theaction of the diastase, which of course would alter the quality of thefinal product. In order to insure this, recourse may be had to varioussuitable processes for arresting the action of the diastase whileremaining quite harmless for the flour.

Theoperation of converting ordinary flour into non-hygroscopic flourtakes place in the following manner, as described with reference to theannexed drawings, in which Figure 1 is a transverse section of theconverting-room and the adjacent drying-room; Fig. 2, a longitudinalvertical section of the converting-room, the necessary apparatuses ofwhich are shown in both of these figures. The arrangement of these roomsand the machines used therewith may be made in any convenient manner.

The flour is first converted in paste in the kneading-trough a and thenpassed between a set of rollers b, which convert it into very thinsheets or strips, which are received on an endless trayand from this onsmall wagons 0, which are immediately entered and passed through thedrying-room d during the period required for expelling the water fromthe flour bands or sheets. On coming out of the drying apparatus thestrips or sheets are received in a suitable crusher which reduces themto small fragments, which are in turn delivered to a suitableroller-mill, which reconverts them into very fine white flour, but of amore granular nature, having all the properties set forth above withoutthe hygroscopic .defects of ordinary flour.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as newtherein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

The process of making non-hygroscopic flour which consists in firstgrinding the grain and removing offal; then soaking the ground andcleansed flour in water at moderate temperature to avoid cooking; thenkneading to form a dough; then reducing the dough to sheets or films bypassing the dough through rollers; then thoroughly desiccating the same,also at moderate temperature; and finally, regrinding the desiccatedproduct to obtain an uncooked product unsusceptible to atmosphericinfluences, and having its fermentible properties unimpaired.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twowitnesses.

- OCTAVE AVEDYK. Witnesses:

EDWARD P. MAOLEAN,

GEORGE E; LIGHT.

